First engine rebuild + #2 project plans

 

Finally got around to dropping the engine on my #2 project bike. The crank and left side bearings were badly rusted and have to be replaced. This engine only has 2k miles on it so I'm not too concerned about replacing every bearing in there, will replace all the seals though. I've been held up by the hardest most baked on gasket I've ever come across. Gasket removing chemicals and plastic scrapers hardly made a dent, razor blades gave me quite a few knicks though. I came across this video where this guy makes a scraper out of a piece of aluminum flat bar, boy did this save my life:

I happened to have a piece of flat bar left over from constructing those headlight mount bars on my #1. Took me 5 minutes to make a little scraper, and it works like a charm, almost no risk of knicking the aluminum case unless you really dig into it. 

I've got a new crank, crank bearings, and engine seals on order.

I've been thinking about project priorities lately, thinking of focusing on #2 and putting #3 on the backburner for now. #2 is a complete bike but it is dirty and rusty, I'd like to completely disassemble it, clean/derust/repaint the components, and rebuild it. I want to keep the original frame paint. Its not in great shape, a lot of knicks and scratches and rust, but it was never my intention to make #2 beautiful, its a survivor, those flaws show its story - likely wrecked in NYC then left to rust in a SC yard. I just want to get rid of the rust and grime and maybe clear coat it for protection. If the engine rebuild is successful it could very well be the best runner I have.